Long Beach / Blair Field

May 22
Game 52 - 6:00 PM
at Long Beach State
(R) Andrew Morales vs. (R) Andrew Rohrbach
Live stats
KUCI 88.9 FM
Mark Roberts
Tim Becwar

May 23
Game 53 - 6:00 PM
at Long Beach State(L) Elliot Surrey vs. (R) Josh Frye
Live stats
KUCI 88.9 FM
Mark Roberts
Tim Becwar

May 24
Game 54 - 2:00 PM
at Long Beach State
(R) Evan Brock vs. (L) Nick Sabo
Live stats
KUCI 88.9 FM
Mark Roberts
Tim Becwar

 

QUICK HITS

• UCI ends the regular season with a Black and Blue Rivalry series at Long Beach State with the series running Thursday through Saturday.
• The Dirtbags are 16-11 at Blair Field while UCI is 14-7 on the road.
• The 'Eaters arms have averaged 1.98 walks this year and are ranked third in the country in walks allowed per nine innings
• The pitching staff is also fourth in the country in strikeout to walk ratio at 3.56.
• The Anteaters were dropped from the rankings for the first time in five weeks after suffering back-to-back series losses. The team looks to rebound this wee after losing consecutive weekends for the first time this year.

SURREY LOGS ANOTHER GEM IN NO DECISION

• Sophomore Elliot Surrey posted his third shutout stint of the year and lowered his ERA to 1.83 after blanking the Titans for seven innings.
• The southpaw was one shy of his career high with eight strikeouts and walked two while scattering six hits.
• Surrey, who also kept Grand Canyon and San Diego State scoreless, has held teams to two earned runs or less in the last nine starts.
• Surrey has 58 strikeouts in 88.1 innings and given up 18 earned runs on the year.

BROCK BOUNCES BACK WITH STELLAR START

• Evan Brock, who posted his shortest start of the year against Cal Poly with 2.1 innings, rebounded by tossing 6.1 frames of one-run baseball against the Titans Sunday.
• The right-hander kept the 'Eaters in the game by holding the Titans to a lone run in the first and then dealing 5.1 shutout innings.
• Brock, who struck out five and did not allow a walk, did not factor in the decision.
• The senior will search for his ninth win this Saturday and is 8-4 with a 3.09 ERA He has struck out 56 batters in 84.1 innings.

McCLANAHAN PACES 'EATERS IN TOUGH WEEK

• Junior Jerry McClanahan batted .500 and went 6 for 12 to lead the team in action last week.
• The catcher had multiple hits in three of the four games, going 2 for 3 with an RBI against UCLA.
• He then drew a walk in the series opener against Fullerton but was left stranded and went 2 for 2 Saturday while driving in the lone run.
• McClanahan capped the weekend by batting 2 for 4 with a walk.
• Defensively, the junior has snuffed out four of the last six stolen base attempts against him and has a 60-percent success rate in throwing out base-runners this season.
• McClanahan is batting .306 with 53 hits and 31 runs batted in.

MORALES LOOKS TO MATCH MARK

• Senior Andrew Morales will look to bounce back from a rough start against the Dirtbags this Thursday.
• The right-hander suffered his first career loss last week but can match his 10-game win mark from 2013. 
• Morales remains ranked nationally in ERA (18th) and is seventh with 111 strikeouts. He is also 12th in hits allowed per nine innings at 5.84.
• He currently has a lifetime

 SPARKS MOVES TO No. 7 IN UCI RECORDS

• Taylor Sparks hit his team-leading seventh triple of the year last week to move into a tie for seventh in the UCI single-season records.
• Sparks shares the spot with 'Eater alums, Adam Ging (1985) and Steve Whitehead (1976) and is three shy of the top mark held by Jeff Malinoff, who belted 10 triples in 1972.
• Sparks now has 14 career triples, tying him with Brady Anderson (1983-85) for the third spot in the UCI career records.
• Topping the record book are Rod Spence (1972-75) and Jeff Malinoff (1971-74) who logged 17 apiece.

 MERTEN BLANKS UCLA, CSF

• Mitch Merten came out of the bullpen in three appearances and provided needed relief for the 'Eaters.
• The right-hander picked up for Evan Manarino against UCLA and dealt 2.2 shutout innings. Merten struck out one and held the Bruins to two hits.
• He then struck out one in 2/3 innings against the Titans Saturday and kept CSF off the board in an inning of work Sunday.
• Merten has posted 17 strikeouts in 22.2 innings while giving up 17 earned runs in 17 appearances.

 DAVIS BACK IN THE GAME TO REINFORCE BULLPEN

• Kyle Davis saw his first appearance since April and provided two innings against the Titans.
• The right-hander struck out three and surrendered an unearned run while giving up one hit in the outing.
• Davis is 2-0 with a 1.37 ERA and has 15 strikeouts in 19.2 innings. He is holding teams to a .156 batting average and has allowed just three earned runs in 11 appearances.

ABOUT LONG BEACH STATE

• Long Beach State is 29-24 overall and 14-7 in the Big West.
• The Dirtbags have won six of the last seven games.
• The team is batting .261 and led by Garrett Hampson, who is hitting .324 with 69 hits and shares the lead with 12 doubles.
• Richard Prigatano is the team's RBI leader with 40 and steals with 18.
• The pitching staff is paced by Josh Frye, who is undefeated at 7-0 with a 1.56 ERA. The right-hander, who will oppose Elliot Surrey on Friday, has 45 strikeouts in 69.1 innings and is holding teams to a .192 average.
• Andrew Rohrbach is 6-2 with a 2.11 earned run average and will take the mound opposite of Andrew Morales. Rohrback has fanned 62 in 94 innings and logged three complete games.
• Nick Sabo is slated to close out the series Sunday and is 4-5 with a 3.23 ERA. The lone lefty in the weekend rotation, Sabo has 43 strikeouts in 69.2 innings of work.